Love the Xbox, Hate the Gold Restrictions

I'm a recent Xbox owner. I've put off getting one since it launched and finally, got one a month ago and I do love the thing. Plus, I finally get a chance to play some original Xbox titles I never got to play. I just hate that you to have a Gold subscription to do everything. Can't use Internet Explorer (but why would I since I have a PC) or Netflix without it. Other than that I like it.

Xbox live, at five dollars a month, is the single greatest entertainment value in my home. I understand your frustration, but you have to understand the gold subscription is absolutely key to the xbox experience. Now, with more devices offering a FREE built in Netflix app, Microsoft may have to rethink their access plan for the next console. BTW, any PS3 fanboys want to start harping about getting it 'for free', I don't want to hear it. Xbox live is light years ahead of what PlayStation offers. Sorry.

That's all well and good, but for someone who's not a constant online gamer like myself that's a drawback. I still have my free month that I haven't used yet so I have yet to be 'enlighted'. It is what it is. For now, I'll keep using Netflix on my PS3.

I've been a gold subscriber for a while now, and my current sub ends on December 26th. I think I'm going to hang it up after that and not renew. I really only use gold to play online but lately I haven't been playing online; I've become a lot more interested in single player games. I don't use any of the other features like Netflix (I have an Apple TV), or Xbox Music (I have Spotify), or Internet Explorer (I used it twice for the novelty, but I have a laptop already so it's pretty pointless).

The price of gold isn't bad for what you get, especially if you plan on utilizing all the features. If you're like me, though, it's not worth just to be able to play online.

You get what you pay for.....Live is overall a better, more consistent service...while it may seem like you are paying to watch Netflix, but Netflix is accessed on dozen of devices and that $3 - $5 Live service provides many other features....

The ONLY differences between Xbox Live Gold and PSN is Xbox Live's more centralized party system and online interaction, the PS3's inability for cross game voice party chat (which is nothing but an online multiplayer matchmaking teamwork distraction that's a free feature on the PS Vita), and PSN's slightly longer download times, but all of that is worth paying the full price of a new game despite the fact that it's losing content (as seen with the cancellation of its Inside Xbox programming and the social networking apps), has more ads than free services like PSN and Steam, has less exclusive content and/or features out of multiplat releases instead of just earlier DLC releases for overrated garbage like CoD, lacks free multiplayer and free streaming access support, doesn't offer online multiplayer and streaming service access for free, and has less dedicated server support for multiplayer titles, amirite? I thought Xbox Live's price increase was supposed to change that....

That's not even taking PSN+ into account, which has offered games like Saint's Row 2, Just Cause 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, inFAMOUS 2, and many others for free, free and discounted games each month, game trials, more streamlined cloud saving, trophy synchronization, automatic downloads, and first access to demos and betas before regular PSN members and all Xbox Live subscribers, and that's all while being $10 cheaper. Yes, it's worth $50 a year, but it has way more value than 5 years of Xbox Live. If you seriously think PSN sucks because you're taking the PSN hack into consideration, then you might as well mention the RRoD epidemic like it still happens. Live does not have better servers and PSN online gamers are not mostly kids. Those are lies instigated by 360 fanthings trying to justify their subscription renewals, and I should know because, again, I own both consoles. They're both mostly P2P servers, and in an hour of Xbox Live, I've encountered more kids than I have in a week of PSN with a comparable number of mic users. XBL = Greatest entertainment value? LOL. Give me a break.... ^_^

Don't mistake my experiences with your own. That's another point I wanted to make by my choice of words in my previous post. Those who state that Xbox Live offers a fundamentally better experience than PSN are holding their own opinion and personal experiences above everyone else's, therefore you're being ignorant. There are a number of factors that could attribute to different network performance. Don't make the situation seem black and white, because it isn't. That just ends up making you look like a fanboy/fangirl, and you can't say that I can't provide my input. After all, I actually own both consoles and Halo 4 is my game of the year, so give me at least SOME credibility (though admittedly, I do think the PS3 is better than the 360, but everyone can have an opinion). That being said, if I didn't make good points, why is no one debunking my arguments?

I own both consoles as well, but I buy all multi-platform games for the 360 when I can because of the PS3's ridiculous download times, and I find the 360 controller more comfortable. I have been a 360 owner for over five years, and for about two years of that we were using a DSL connection. While my internet connection was so slow that I couldn't watch streaming video on my console, downloads of updates and whatnot were tolerable. We later upgraded to a faster cable connection, and then shortly thereafter acquired a PS3. If it was only a slight difference, I wouldn't be looking at PS3 download times with our current connection taking longer than my 360 downloads on a DSnaiL connection.

I went into owning a PS3 with the assumption that the download/install times were just exaggerations, but quickly learned that they weren't.

So far I haven't seen a difference in download times on either console. I've gotten both slow and fast downloads with 360 and PS3, but with me being a 360 owner for only a month and a half that's not saying much. lOl

If not for some of the games they have I wouldn't have touched it. I just wondered why the didn't do anything about the hardware issues people have had for years. I guess the same reason why Sony did away with PS2 backward compatibility on the PS3.

Yup, it's annoying, like they're constantly trying to shove it in my face that they think I'm a second class citizen. It's also ludicrous that they lock away things like Netflix and Hulu that are free on literally any other platform they exist on. I'm annoyed every time I try to launch some feature it then it tells me "don't have permission" etc. Whole thing's sleezy.

<<<Adrian says:I understand your frustration, but you have to understand the gold subscription is absolutely key to the xbox experience.>>>

How so?

<<<Now, with more devices offering a FREE built in Netflix app, Microsoft may have to rethink their access plan for the next console.>>>

Everything's offered it free before and after. No one but Microsoft has ever tried to charge.

<<<BTW, any PS3 fanboys want to start harping about getting it 'for free', I don't want to hear it. Xbox live is light years ahead of what PlayStation offers. Sorry.>>>

How so?

<<< Whale Biologist says:I've been a gold subscriber for a while now, and my current sub ends on December 26th. I think I'm going to hang it up after that and not renew.>>>

Be careful that you're really cancelled. I think supposedly you can finally cancel in the interface (?) but when I did I had to call on the phone and talk to 2 people for an hour while they grilled me about why I wanted to cancel. I've heard countless stories about people being charged even after they cancel, even on expired credit cards that they shouldn't be able to charge.

Wait, does Vita have cross game voicechat? I've owned Vita since launch and have like 17 games (no, 19, I just bought Call of Duty and something else LOL) and didn't know that. I love the PSP/PS3 interface but haaaaate the confusing Vita interface. Save games show up on the launch screen? So weird. Hate the stupid sealed battery (that the system doesn't work without) though otherwise it's awesome.